Chapter 1: Campus Tour

---

A used looking barmaid wipes off the tables in a rundown looking bar resting on the second story of the Northend's market complex. The words, "The Pub," are written in fading paint on the walls by the stairs leading down to the noisy market below. The bar is empty except for the server and the barkeep, who is behind the bar inventoring the beer, booze, and other wasteland drinks.

July 26, 2165: 0900

---

A dusty man dressed in tan clothes and hat walked into the bar. He sat next to a window that led to a now-collasped balcony. Setting his hat on the table, showing short, dark blonde hair, he leaned back in his chair relaxing.

A young woman turned off the walk and into the bar. She walked up to the counter and started drumming her fingers on it, waiting for the bar tender to ask her what she wanted to drink. After a while of doing that with no response she got bored and just yelled "Hey, may I order a drink?"

The bartender looked up from his inventory, startled. "Oh, I'm sorry, missy, I was so busy looking over my stuff that I didn't see you. My name's Derek. How may I serve you?"

"Just give me what ever you have on tap. So, is anything interesting going on it town?" she asked.

Derek reached under the bar for a glass and fills it with an amber liquid with a slight greenish glow. "One glass of Gamma Gulp," he said as he set the glass in front of the young woman. "That will be 3 caps, Miss...what did you say your name was?"

"My name is Cassandra and I didn't say what it was," she said as she paid for the drink and took a sip. She continued to look at the bar tender, waiting for her question to be answered.

Derek took a minute to think about Cassandra's question. "Well, Miss Cassandra, there are quite a few things to do in town. There are all kinds of shops and a lot of merchants coming through here are probably looking for jobs. I know for a fact that Ol' Jeb out at the farms is having some wild animal problems. There's supposed to be a big ghoul rights rally coming up, but I don't know when," Derek paused to think some more. "Those Brotherhood of Steel folks are always looking for books to the library. Oh, and the doc has been looking for someone to recover some medical supplies for him, but everyone's been too busy with all these raider attacks lately. Which reminds me, the head deputy is supposed to stop by here this morning about some special work he needs done." He eyed Cassandra. "How does all that sound?"

"I could use some work. Wild animal problems are up my ally, but I guess I'll stay around here to hear about the special work," Cassandra said.

"Well, he'll be here in a few, hopefully," replied Derek as he pocketed Cassandra money and continued to do inventory.

Apparently done with relaxing, the dusty man sat up in his chair and motioned to the barmaid. "Lisa," he said, reading her faded nametag. "Name's Fredericai. I'd like a bottle of beer, please."

"Right away," she answered. She leaned in and whispered to Fredericai, "The name is actually Trish. The barkeep -" she gestured to Derek "-makes me wear it to look official." She walked to Derek, grabbed a beer, and returned, placing it in front of Fredericai. "That will be 5 caps, sweety."

Fredericai took a long swig off the beer and he put the money on the table, plus an extra cap as a tip for Trish.

Trish smiled and returned to wiping off the other tables.

A very small, very skinny, almost sickly looking man comes in, muttering to himself loudly, but not comprehensibly. He sits down at the bar, clearly irked over something.

"I'm guessing that's not the head deputy?" Cassandra said to Derek.

Derek glanced over at the newcomer. "Right you are, missy," he said to her. He walked along the bar until he was across from the skinny man. "Something to drink," he asked.

Twitch looked up. "What's available?"

"This is a first class bar in a first class town," replied Derek. "We have most drinks."

The door opened awkwardly to reveal a very tall, very broad man with an honest face, who forgot to let go of the door as he walked forward and accidentally pulled it off it's hinges. It took a moment for it to register that something was wrong, and he looked down at the door in his hand, a bit upset. The giant strode over to the bar and offered the door to Derek, trying to swing it over the bar in various positions before just setting it against the wood. "Sorry," he rumbled almost shyly.

Cassandra stares for a moment and then backs off to some table a safe distance away.

Twitch didn't even turn around when Bouncer came in. "Give me whatever will cure me of this guy."

Derek looked at the giant, then at the door, then back at the giant, mouth agape. "N-no worries, big fella," he stammered. "I'll get someone to fix that later." The startled barkeep looked back at Twitch, registering the smaller man's words. "Huh?"

A surprised laugh escaped from Fredericai as he watch the door come off, the attempted door hand-off to Derek, and finally Twitch's remark.

Bouncer moved and sat on the stool, which creaked painfully under his weight. He motioned at Twitch. "I'll have what he's having," he boomed, leaning his tree-trunk arms on the bartop and slouching heavily.

Twitch grinned, shaking his head, eyes rolling behind old-style glasses. "Give me a beer, give him a Nuka-Cola. He's not so useful when he gets drunk, and he didn't get that thick by holding alcohol, that's for damned sure." He turned around, leaning his back against the bar, his elbows holding him up like a human house-of-cards. He scanned the room whistfully, then looked back over the bar. "And while you're at it, what's the scoop on this town?"

Derek put down a beer and nuka-cola. "That'll be eight caps, please," he said. "As for your question," he rolled his eyes and winked as Cassandra before continuing, "I guess that would depend on your primary interest. You looking for work, fun, learning? Northend has all three in abundance. Or do you just want a general overview of the town?"

Cassandra crossed the room to Fredericai's table, keeping a distrustful eye on the gaint as she did so. "So are are you from around here?" She asked Fredericai as she sat down next to him.

"I'm from a farming community pretty far north of here," replied Fredericai, flattered that a pretty girl was talking to him. "Yourself?"

Twitch pulled out a small bag, counted out eight caps, and then clanked them down on the bar. "Tell me about learning and work, in that order, please."

"I from the same, except from pretty far south," Cassandra said, "What brought you here?"

Fredericai shrugged. "Just checking out the area, maybe get some work. We'll see. How about you?"

Derek pocketed the money. "Well, if you want learning there's a library here, probably not as good as its pre-war days, but not bad. As for work, there's plenty to be had around here. Any particular kind you're looking for?"

"I've been wondering around the waste for the last few months hunting. I justed dropped in for supplies and to see what here. Besides I lost all my money and gear in a game of cards in a trader's camp. Then, on the next had I won big. Money isn't worth anything out in the waste so I needed somewhere to spend it and to replace my stuff," said Cassandra

"You've probably come to right place," replied Fredericai. "This town looks pretty big. Probably all kinds of stuff to buy.

A tall, strong looking man dressed in metal armor enters the bar and saddles up to the bar. He says something to Derek, and Derek nods to his four customer.

"All right," said the newcomer. "I'm looking for some volunteers for a little work for the town. Who's interested?"

"What sort of work? Does it pay?" asked Cassandra.

"The work does pay, when it is completed," answered the man. "As for the details, anyone who is interested will need to come with me to sheriff's office." He looked around the bar. "So, any takers?"

Fredericai chugged the rest of his beer, wiped his mouth, and raised his hand to volunteer.

"Why not?" said Cassandra standing up.

"Good," says the man. He looks over at Twitch and Bouncer. "Anyone else?"

"Well, the worst it can be is a waste of time, right? Nothing better to do yet, anyway. So yeah, we'll come hear you out." Twith popped off his seat and walked over to the man.

"Good to hear," said the man. He walked over to Bouncer. "How about you, big fella?"

"He's with me." Twitch stood next to the man and waited, expecantly.

---

"Fair enough," says the head deputy. He pulls out a piece of paper and gets everyone's name and occupations. He then leads the four adventurers out of the pub and marketplace to Jack Brown Hall, where the town's government offices are located. He leads them into a broken down looking lecture hall that is far bigger than a group their size really needs. He beckons to the various seats that time hasn't toppled, and the four take their seats.

July 26, 2165: 1000

"The sheriff will be here shortly to brief you on the job," said the head deputy. "Make yourselves comfortable and feel free to chat until he gets here."

"Great, more time to wait around. I suddenly have a craving for the sun, the sand and radscorpian blood," said Cassandra.

"Then it's a good thing you don't have to go very far to find that, isn't it?" Twitch said with a grin.

After a few minutes, a short, wiry man in leather armor walked up to the podium. The head deputy joined him, handing him the slip of paper with everyone's name and occupation. The man nodded, and the deputy stepped back. Turning to the four adventurers, he turned to speak.

"Well, to be honest, I had expected more to show, especially those who were friends and family to the victims." He shook his head. "I suppose it is to be expected, with recent event being what they are. I put out a call for hardy adventurers as a result, and here the four of you are. I am Sheriff Johnson and this is Head Deputy Jackson."

Head Deputy Jackson nods to the group.

"Getting down to business," continued Sheriff Johnson, "You have been summoned here about a possible job. Yesterday, we had a merchant guard stumble into Devore. This man was apparently the sole survivor of a vicious ambush perpetrated by those we believe to be raiders. It is unacceptable to the townships and the merchants operating in this area to have these vile bandits operating so close to established trade routes. If action is not taken quickly to eliminate these scumbags and restore confidence in the safety and integrity of Cajon Pass, we could lose the very profitable trade with the High Desert."

"Unfortunately, neither the Northend, Devore, nor the High Desert can spare any people to handle this, and the merchants are pretty much in the same boat with the increased attacks. We are looking for you folks to track down the raiders. If you successfully pass a simple test we have set up, we'll give you the name of the survivor in Devore so that you can interview him to determine where the raiders' hideout might be."

"In preparation of the test, you are more than welcome to equip yourselves in any of the shops in the Market Place, and help out any of the local citizenry in order to get a better feel for this area. Don't forget, though, that you won't get the name of the survivor until you pass my test."

Sheriff Johnson looked at each of the four. "So, any questions?"

Twitch raised his hand. "Yeah, I've got one. Who the hell do you think you are? I mean, seriously. You ask us here, explain that your entire freakin' economy is threatened by these raiders, bandits, whatever they are, and that, to make matters worse, you and everyone else involved currently lack the resources to fix the problem. You have just told us that you need all the help you can get. Tests are for narrowing down a selection. Let's get this straight - your selection? It's narrow. Either you screw the test, or you screw yourself."

Twitch took a second to adjust his glasses before continuing. "You don't want to give us the name of the survivor because you don't know if you can trust us yet, right? He's your only real lead, and you don't want to put him in danger. Fair enough. So why don't you 'interview' him, and then just tell us who needs to get re-educated? You are from here, so you already know more about this area than I possibly could. I fail to see how little old me is going to be able to glean more useful information from Mr. Survivor than big smart you could. So yeah, my question: why the goose chase?"

Cassandra turns and looks at Twitch as if seeing him for the first time.

Sheriff Johnson turned a shade of red, but composed himself. "Who do I think I am? The Sheriff of Northend, authorized to enforce the law. This arrangement was decided by the leadership of three townships. Yes, tests narrow selection, and in this case, we're using to make sure you aren't raiders, or agents thereof, yourself. It is not our resources that are lacking, merely the number of threats growing that we must devote our resources to. We've interviewed the survivor, and will give you, upon completion of the test, the details of what we uncovered, but we would prefer you go out and talk to him yourselves. Now, I know this area of the Northend and Devore pretty well, but for reasons that will remain unknown to you without you passing the test, we do not know exactly where these raiders might be, and cannot afford to send half a dozen men to go searching the canyons and passes. So, we bring the four of you in to give us some extra bodies for this situation, but we need to have some inkling of your intentions. So, are you taking the job or not?"

"If we're raiders, or agents thereof, what possible good would it do us for you to tell us where our base is? We would already know whatever Survivor Man knew, and just because a person is a raider, doesn't mean they are an idiot. We would be able to figure out whatever you could know by a simple matter of line-of-sight extrapolation." Twitch shrugged. "Really, the worst that could come of you telling us where you think this base might be is that we die there, on the way, or we don't." He spread his hands quizzically. "But that's nothing but speculation. You want something that isn't? Try naming the prize."

"The prize is 3000 caps per person, equipment, and bonuses for any goods and personnel you recover intact. But you do it our way, or you can walk," said Sheriff Johnson. "Aren't you even going to ask what the test is?"

Fredericai shrugged. "Sounds like a plan to me."

"I like what I'm hearing," Cassandra said.

Twitch backed away from Sheriff Johnson slowly, a very concerned look suddenly gracing his face. "You put up with everything I just said when you've got purse like that to spare? So there's a test to see if you can trust us. Sure, I'll buy that, even if it is ridiculous and unnecessary. But tell me, sir, by what means we should trust you?" Twitch eyed everyone in the room. The sheriff could hire anyone for that. Why would he go out of his way to get Twitch? True, he hadn't done anything for Twitch - but he had refrained from closing the opportunity.
Maybe he was just a nice guy, this Sheriff. Nice enough to dish out weeks worth of pay to somebody who made waves as instinctually as Twitch did? Granted, not out of his own pocket, but to spend the towns money as freely as that? That's not the sign of a good person. There was the obvious possibility, of course - that somehow, nobody in town was willing to risk their lives for a small fortune, that no police thought it could help their families live better out in the wasteland. It was less of a wasteland here, but everywhere was wasteland, so what difference did it make? But none of the other possibilities that came to Twitch's mind were particularly pleasant. Like as not, he was just being paranoid, but something definitely wasn't adding up, here.

Bouncer grunted quietly as Twitch ran into him, the small man's retreat suddenly halted by a large wall of person.

Sheriff Johnson shrugged. "The people of Northend trust me to enforce the law around here. It's not really my purse, but the town's. The movers and shakers here put up the money and asked me to get together some folk to get to the bottom of the trouble. They also asked me to find some sort of test to weed out any raider types or weaklings. If you feel you can't trust me or my motivations, then don't take the job."

"I still like what I'm hearing," Cassandra said.

"All right," said Sheriff Johnson. "We've gotten a lot of critters in the old flood control system lately. We've periodically tried ridding ourselves of them, but with some difficulty. The fine folks from the Brotherhood of Steel have provided us with a package to take care of the problem and maintain control of our water source. The only problem is that I'm a little short-handed with provided the merchant caravans with extra security, so I need you folks to eliminate whatever vermin you encounter in the system, find whatever nest they seem to be coming out of, and drop the package into it after pulling the string. You folks look a little light on gear, so I'd recommend you stop by the marketplace before you head out. Good luck, and come back here when you finish the job."

With that, Sheriff Johnson turned and left. Head Deputy Jackson produced a package and handed it to Cassandra before he too turned and left.

"Well," said Fredericai. "I guess we'd better do some shopping."

"Sounds like as good a way as any to spend the rest of the morning," said Cassandra. "You know, whether or not this test thing makes any sense, it does sound like fun."
She heads for the door and then stops. "Um... are we going together or splitting up and meeting somewhere?"

Fredericai shrugged. "We should probably do whatever shopping we need to do on our own to make it faster, unless someone here is really good at bartering. Then we should probably meet up back at the Pub so we can head out to the flood control system. What do you think," he asked Twitch.

Twitch grinned gleefully. "Bartering, you say? Just find the shop and point me at it, then step back and watch!" He looked around anxiously. "So, when do we start?"

Fredericai grinned at Twitch's exuberance. "I guess now," he said.

---

The party leaves Jack Brown Hall and returns to the marketplace. There are a number of kiosks, stands, and counters selling quite a few items. The biggest establishments are as follow:

Harley's Hardware: weapons, armor, ammo
Iguana Bob's: food and drink
Northend Medical Surplus: chems, medical supplies, learning material, tools
The Outdoor Connection: various supplies for the wasteland


July 26, 2165: 1100

Cassandra Scanned the available options and then takes Twitch literally in regards to Harley's Hardware.

Fredericai grins and follows.

"So," Cassander said to the store owner, "what have you got?"

The shopkeep, presumably Harley grins widely, showing rows of broken, mistreated teeth. "Well, well, well, missy. I've got all kinds of stuff. The best you're gonna see in this market, anyhow. Let me show you what I've got."

Harley gives Cassandra a tour of his shop, showing all of his products:

Small Guns (Pistols)
10mm automatic pistol x 10
Magnum Revolver x 4
Desert Eagle x 6

Small Guns (Shotguns)
Sawed-off Shotgun x 4

Small Guns (Rifles)
Red Ryder BB Gun x 2
Pipe Rifle x 10

Unarmed
Brass Knuckles x 10
Spiked Knuckles x 10

Melee
Club x 10
Knife x 10
Shiv x 10
Switchblade x 10
Sledgehammer x 10
Combat Knife x 6

Throwing
Molotov Cocktail x 20
Frag. Grenade x 10
Throwing Knife x 30

Armor
Leather Jacket x 10
Leather Armor x 4
Metal Armor x 4

Ammo
10mm JHP x 1000
10mm AP x 250
.44 Magnum JHP x 500
.44 FMJ x 100
BBs x 100
12ga. shell x 200

"Now," said Harley conspiratorally as he puts a hairy arm around Cassandra. "Ordinarily I have a much better selection than this, but with the increase in raider attacks, the merchants, their guards, and various wanderers have pretty much cleaned me out of my better stuff. Come back in a couple of months, and I'll knock you off your feet with choices." Harley chuckled rustily. "How does that sounds to you, sweet cheeks?"

Giving a little extra swing to her hips, Cassandra picked out a leather jacket that looks like it might have belonged to some biker-girl long ago though it's been repaired and reinforced may times since. She also selects four throwing knives. "Let’s see here," she mutters as she counted on her figures, "How much is that? Hey, Twitch!"

Harley scratched his head in an ape-like manner. "Let's see, that totals out to 882," he said.

"Don't tell me that's the best deal you can give us." Twitch piped. He whispered something in Harley's ear, trying to haggle the price down as low as possible.

"Fine, fine, fine," growled Harley. "490, and not a cap less. You should know my children are going to go hungry because of you!"

"You're a good man." said Twitch, slapping him on the back. Which, from Twitch, is really not much of a slap at all. More like a tap.

"Yeah, yeah," said Harley, trying not to be charmed by Twitch, but failing. He handed Cassandra a leather jacket and four throwing knives, taking 490 caps. "Anything else for you folks?"

Nine walked into the store and dusted off the sides of his cloak and walked very slowly towards the counter, eyeing the others. He checked a piece of paper he had in his hand and looked glanced at the group a few more times. These might be the people he was looking for, but he'd rather get equipped first in case they weren't. Placing an elbow on the counter, the upper part of his cloak covering most of his face, he turned to the shopkeeper. "ehm... I need a gun"

"Oka-," started Harley before seeing the strange tattoo on Nine's head. He stared at it curiously for a moment. "Sure thing pal. You with these folks?"

Fredericai looked over at the newcomer interested and also taken aback by the strange appearance, waiting to hear the answer.

Bouncer scooted through the doorway, ducking slightly to make room for his head. As the shop was somewhat small, he decided it best to wait outside for the moment.

"Uhm... not sure actually" replied Nine trying to hide his tattoed hand and hoping his hair would cover the number on his forehead. Nine turned towards Harley once more trying to avoid Fredericai's glance. "I'd like a 10mm gun... 4 packs of AP 10 mm ammo.. and a leather jacket, please, how many... uhn... round things... would that be?"

"That would 793 caps," said Harley, a little unnerved by the giant outside his door. "You buyin'?"

"I'll take a combat knife too then" replied Nine traking out his money bag and placing 793 caps on the counter, while he waited for Harley to get the combat knife.

Harley took the money and handed out the 10mm gun, the AP ammo, and the leather jacket to Nine. "The combat knife is 214 caps."

"Well," said Fredericai. "Are you headed out to the flood control system after this?"

Cassandra joins them putting on her new jacket and, using a long strip of fabric from a junk pile, attaching the knifes to her leg. "What ya talking about?"

"I was just wondering if this guy here is a part of our group," said Fredericai. "Hey, can you barter for me too," he asked Twitch.

"Uhm.. ok then, I'll come back for that knife later..." replied Nine as he donned his new equipment, hiding his new gun behind his back. He was about to turn and leave the shop when he hears Fredericai and Cassandra talking. He recognized what they were talking about, maybe this was the group he was supposed to rendezvous with. Nine lingered about, pretending to look at some other weapons while listening to the conversation.

Twitch smirked. "I'll handle this." He proceeds to barter with Harley, batting the prices down to more friendly levels.

"All right, all right," whined Harley. "Tell me what you want, kid."

Fredericai thought a moment before answering. "Oh, let's see, I'll have a leather jacket, 10mm automatic, and 4 packs of 10mm JHP. And do you have any stimpacks by chance?"

"That'll be 413 caps," said Harley after looking over at Twitch hesitantly. He gives the gear to Fredericai and takes the money. "And no, you'll have to talk to Selma across the way about chems," he said, motioning across the market.

"All right, thankee much," said Fredericai as he put on the leather jacket and tucked the pistol into his pocket.

"Yeah, yeah," said Harley, looking over at Twitch and Bouncer. "So, are you two going to buy anything?"

"I'll take a shiv, a switchblade, and one of those leather armor things." Twitch said offhand.

Bouncer lumbered in and grabbed a sledgehammer from its place on a table and, hefting its weight in one hand, promptly left the store.

"Oh, and a sledge for the big guy." Twitch said without even turning around. "So, what kind of deal can you give me?" He eyed Harley sceptically.

Harley gave Twitch the hairy eyeball. "322, and not a cap less. Sure you don't want any armor for your giant? I notice he didn't walk out with any."

Twitch smiled. "Yes, as a matter of fact, that would be nice."

Harley takes out the leather jackets, shiv, and switchblades and put them on the counter. "That'll be 532."

Twitch looked at Harley in confusion. "Oh! No, I meant leather armor, not leather jackets," he exclaimed with a start.

Harley looked confused momentarily, then corrected himself. "Uh, oh, okay." He removed the jackets and put the armor out. "That comes to 1232 caps."

"Hold that thought." Twitch ran out of the store to Bouncer. A few seconds later, he returned and handed over the rather large number of bottle caps.

Harley took the caps and handed the equipment over to Twitch.

Cassandra Takes Twitch by the arm and leads him over to the Outdoor Connection.

Fredericai followed them. "Well, I guess I'll see you around then," he said to Nine. "If you want, you can meet up with us at the flood control system."

---

Seeing Cassandra dragging Twitch into the shop, with Fredericai following, the shopkeeper of the Outdoor Connection rubbed his hands together with glee. "Welcome to the Outdoor Connection. My name is Hakim. How may I help you?"

"We'd like to see your inventory." Cassandra announced.

"Ah, very good, very good," said Hakim as he took the trio around his shop.

Chems
Healing Powder x 100
Mutated Fruit x 100
Poison Antidote x 100
Radaway x 5
Rad-X x 5

Information Material
Scout Handbook x 5

Other Consumables
Dynamite x 2
Radscorpion Tails x 50

Miscellaneous Items
All Purpose Tool x 2
Backpack x 10
Radio x 2
Rope x 50
Shovel x 50
Vault 15 canteens x 10
Wrench x 2

Small Guns (Shotguns)
Sawed-off Shotgun x 2

Small Guns (Rifles)
Pipe Rifle x 5

Unarmed
Brass Knuckles x 10
Spiked Knuckles x 10

Melee
Club x 30
Crowbar x 10
Knife x 30
Spear x 30
Wrench x 2

Throwing
Rocks x 100

Armor
Leather Jacket x 6

Ammo
10mm JHP x 400

"So," said Hakim energetically. "What of my beautiful selection would you like to purchase?"

Fredericai, seeing nothing of interest to him, whistled tunelessly and made shadow-puppets on the back of Hakim's shop.

"I'd like a length of rope, 3 bags of healing powder and two water canteens, please. Now, Twitch, how much is that?" Cassandra mused.

Hakim looks over at Twitch. "Ah, yes, the bargainer," he says, a little unhappily. "I think you will find me not quite the pushover as other merchants around here." He turns back to Cassandra. "That total comes to 229 caps. Of course, my little desert pear, you should know you really only need 1 canteen for traveling. The communities here are close enough together to accomodate that."

"That's assuming that I'm going to another community," Cassandra muttered as she paid up.

"Very well, very well," said Hakim, briefly throwing his hands up. He took the money and handed the purchases to Cassandra. "Will there be anything else," he asked, looking at Fredericai and Twitch. "Or will you continue goofing around in my store?"

Fredericai blushed and put his hands in his pocket. Seeing the party pretty much finished with the shop, he used Cassandra's trick, taking hold of Twitch's arm, and escorted him over to the Northend Medical Surplus.

---

Selma looked up to see Fredericai and Twitch enter her shop. "How may I help you gentleman," she asked politely.

"Well, what sort of stuff do you sell here," Fredericai asked her.

Cassandra follows them in.

"We sell whatever supplies we can buy on the cheap, whether they are scavenged, or the Brotherhood simply doesn't need them anymore," answered Selma. "My inventory is a little smaller than usual, due to the increased demand."

Chems
Buffout x 2
Mentats x 2
Poison Antidote x 10
Psycho x 2
Radaway x 10
Rad-X x 10
Stimpacks x 15
Super Stimpack x 5

Information Materials
First Aid Book x 5

Other Consumables
Doctor's Bag x 2
First Aid Kit x 5
Hypodermic Needle x 10

"Any interest you," asked Selma.

Fredericai waited to make sure no one else was ordering before speaking. "I'll take two stimpacks, please."

"That will be 160 caps," said Selma as she handed over the stimpacks to Fredericai.

"Okay," said Fredericai as he handed over the caps. "Do you know where I could get a lock-picking set?"

"Hmmm..." said Selma thoughtfully. "Harley and Hakim carry them ocassionally, but I think they're sold out at the moment. If you go over to Iguana Bob's there's a dark-skinned fellow in leather armor who might be able to help." She turned to Cassandra and Twitch. "May I help you with anything?"

"I'm just waiting for him," Cassandra said, gesturing at Fredericai.

"Well, I'm all finished here," said Fredericai. "Shall we look up this shadowy character?"

"You mean the dude with 9s tatood all over him?" asked Cassandra gesturing at her forehead.

Fredericai stopped suddenly. "Maybe...is he," he asked Selma.

"Oh, you mean that strange looking fellow," said Selma. "No, not him. This fellow isn't exactly new to Northend, though nobody knows much about him. Just go to Iguana Bob's. You'll see who I'm talking about."

"All right." Fredericai turned and left the Northend Medical Supply and headed for Iguana Bob's.

---

Fredericai entered Iguana Bob's and looked for the shadowy character Selma described.

Aside from a couple of patrons getting breakfast, Fredericai sees a dark-skinned, leather-armored man in a corner, smoking something pungent. This has to be the guy.

"This has to be the guy," Fredericai said to himself. He walked over to the man. "Hey pal, do you sell lockpick sets?"

Cassandra follows him in for a step, then feels strangely uncomfortable and decides to wait out side.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," said the man. "What's it to you?" He took a drag of his smoke and blew it in Fredericai's direction.

Fredericai began to wonder if maybe approaching this man was a mistake. "Look, mister," he stammered. "I just want to buy a lockpick set from you if you got it. That's all."

The man took another drag, then pulled out something out his pocket, wrapped in a cloth. "249 caps. Take it or leave it. And if you bring that weakling in to barter, I'll shoot you both in the head."

Fredericai gulped, then laid the caps on the table.

The man took the caps and turned away from Fredericai, continuing to smoke his foul herb.

Fredericai took the lockpick set and hurried outside the eatery to join Cassandra. "Well, that was a little strange," he commented. "I'm all finished getting gear. Are you," he asked Cassandra.

"I'm good," said Cassandra.

"All right," said Fredericai. "I guess we'd better get going."

---

Party #1: Inland Empire
Enter Fallout
Fallout Roleplaying
Party #1 Characters
Party #1 Notes
Party #1 Quest Log